Firefly is dedicated to helping Russian professionals end the practice of institutionalizing children.  By sharing successful intervention programs and knowledge in the fields of social work, psychology, child development, and disability issues, Firefly and its colleague organizations transfer lessons learned by the U.S.A., Canada, and Western Europe.  Russian specialists can learn from the mistakes of these countries and quickly implement best practices without having to go through decades of trial-and-error learning.

NOW

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Current Russian policy, practice, and funding streams channel children at risk of abandonment into state institutions.

SHORT-RANGE GOAL

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Firefly has identified several key intervention programs to keep these children in families.  These programs have been successfully piloted in various cities of post-Soviet countries and are ready for replication anywhere in Russia, leading to tangible short-term results.
 
LONG-RANGE GOAL

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Within the next few decades, it is the Russian government’s goal to close large state-run institutions and keep all children in birth, foster, or adoptive families, or small family-style residential treatment homes for children with severe disabilities.